A Palestinian man has been killed by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Alaa Qaysiyeh, 28, was shot dead on Friday when he was “occupied” in the southern West Bank region south of Hebron, the ministry said.
The Palestinian man tried to stab a resident of the Tene Omarim settlement and was shot dead by an armed civilian, the Israeli military said. Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law.
The military said the attackers had been “suppressed” and there were no Israeli casualties.
According to Israeli media reports, the incident took place as people in the settlement gathered to pray for the Jewish feast of Pentecost.
Security camera footage at the site appeared to show a Palestinian man crawling in from under the gate and entering the settlement with a knife. The video did not show the alleged stabbing attempt or the man who was shot.
Qaysiyeh’s sister-in-law Nana told Reuters the youngest of nine siblings worked on and off, was largely alone and was not a member of any armed group.
Her brother Murad, her husband, was released six months ago after serving 17 years in an Israeli prison for opening fire on an illegal settlement and wounding three people, she said.
No armed group claimed Qaysiyeh as a member.
Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has surged for more than a year, with frequent Israeli military raids and settler violence in the occupied West Bank amid a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Since January, more than 140 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed.
During the 1967 Middle East war, Israel occupied the West Bank, which the Palestinians wanted as the core of an independent state. State-building talks initiated by the United States have been frozen since 2014, while Israel maintains military rule over millions of Palestinians and continues to expand illegal Jewish settlements.
settler violence
The incident, which comes as several European countries condemn Israeli demolition and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, has resurfaced as Palestinian farmers say Jewish settlers shot at them while working on their fields. break out.
Bashar al-Qaryuti, a field researcher with St Yves Rights, said Jewish settlers, backed by Israeli soldiers, harassed Palestinian farmers in three different areas of the West Bank on Friday.
In the village of al-Mughayyir, near the city of Ramallah, Palestinians said settlers shot and threw stones at them as they worked on their land, before setting their cars on fire, sparking clashes.
“We were carrying bales of hay when the settlers arrived with soldiers and started firing at us,” said Murad Abu Aliya, who said he counted at least 25 settlers from Adei Ad Illegal settlement outpost.
Attaf al-Naasan told Reuters that settlers poured fuel on his car and set it on fire, while soldiers watched and prevented him from approaching the car.
The Palestinian health ministry said it was treating five patients who arrived from al-Mughayyir, one with serious head injuries and four hit by stones, who were in stable condition.
The military said Israelis and Palestinians threw stones at each other in the area, injuring both sides. According to reports, the Israelis also fired into the air and set a number of vehicles on fire, and the Israeli army responded by dispersing the riots.
A European Union mission to Palestine released a statement condemning settler violence on Friday and calling on Israel to “stop all confiscation and demolition in the occupied West Bank, return or compensate donor-funded humanitarian items, and allow Humanitarian aid is unimpeded.”
